


Pilling Up

by Raphs_Draft (Raphs_Diary)



Series: Talking is Overrated [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Feels, Character Study, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Kuron is Shiro (Voltron)'s Clone, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Miscommunication, Panic Attacks, Post-Season/Series 04, Self Confidence Issues, Sentient Voltron Lions, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Team Dynamics, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-08 22:45:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12874656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raphs_Diary/pseuds/Raphs_Draft
Summary: Keith nodded, lowering his gaze, only to look up  at a flash of red and the sound of a bayard activating. Then he found the barrel of Lance’s riffle pointed a few inches from Shiro’s face.“Ok, enough is enough. Who the fuck are you?”~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Lance is tired of this damned clone on this damned castleship but he could have picked a better approach.





	1. Action

**Author's Note:**

> While this was written as a prequel/flashback for ‘Notice the Tipping Point?’ -when that fic went out of my control-, you don’t need to read that too. 
> 
> Note: Kuron is NOT his own person in this fic. It is like a two sided mind control of a vessel. 
> 
> Also, you can see the team’s reaction to Keith’s suicide mission, that’s mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, here: https://youtu.be/P2Y2UAW6hk8

The Naxzela was down and they appeared to have an unexpected ally who was currently talking with Allura and Shiro when Matt informed the rest of the team about what exactly took place during the battle to take that shield down, while Keith had been busy getting a kind parent talk from Coran, looking sadder than he had ever seen him.

It resulted to a very well deserved punch from Lance, a sobbing clinging Hunk and a Pidge who barely restrained their anger, just for the sake on keeping Lance from collapsing.  From what Keith gathered, while all this was happening, Lotor informed Allura and Shiro of his actions and Keith braced himself for even more scolding.

Allura was fierce and suggested that he left the Blade, because clearly the Galra way was rubbing off on him and that was not something she was willing to have. She reminded him that all her people were dead and she didn’t want to lose anyone else important to her.

Then came Shiro’s turn.

And it all went downhill from there.

“Keith” the black paladin’s hands came to rest on the younger’s shoulders, as usual “I realize that you wanted to help. But that is not the way” his grip tightened “We are your team and we value you too much, we wouldn’t be able to move on if we lost you…”

Keith nodded, lowering his gaze, only to look up with a startle at a flash of red and the sound of a bayard activating. A gasp escaped his lips when he found the barrel of Lance’s riffle pointed a few inches from Shiro’s face, who was also staring at it with the same baffled expression.

A few ticks passed without a sound as every person in the room, stood frozen.

“Ok, enough is enough” Lance’s shoulders shook in fury, his eyes piercing through their leader “Who the fuck are you?”

“Lance, what the hell are you doing!?” Keith demanded, and attempted to get between them, but Shiro’s hand cut his way, sustaining eye contact with Lance.

“Lance, what is the meaning of this?” he requested.

“’I realize you wanted to help’? ‘We value you’? Could you be more generic?” The blue eyed hissed “Keith was about to nine-eleven himself and that’s all you have to say?! And you’re calm as hell too!”

“Lance, lower your bayard this instant!” Allura commanded and by the sound of it, she drew out her own bayard.

Shiro sighed “I have to keep calm, Lance. I don’t understand what you’re getting at”

“There’s a difference between keeping calm and not giving a shit!” Lance growled “And you don’t give a shit! It appears empathy is something you’re unfamiliar with! Like a while ago, when you almost got us all killed, cause you wanted to go sightseeing instead of bolting off an obvious trap and a planet about to explode!”

“I made a wrong call” Shiro frowned “I shouldn’t have dismissed your advice, I’m sorry”

Lance gawked “This isn’t about me! Ever since we got you back you’ve-”

“Look, Lance” he rubbed his temple, looking tired “I realize that… I haven’t been treating you with the same respect as Keith, considering you replaced him as second in command and I apologize for that. But that doesn’t excuse threatening me”

The red bayard started shaking in Lance’s hand as his grip faltered “No… No this is not about- This has nothing to do with this!”

“Lance, buddy, I think you need to back down now” Hunk hesitantly approached his friend, but didn’t get in the circle the Red, Blue and Black paladin had created.

“Lance, I’m warning you-“ Keith growled, trying to push through Shiro’s hold.

“Keith, that’s enough” Shiro gripped on his shoulder and turned to Lance with a sympathetic look “This is my fault… I should have been a better leader. I must have been really unfair to bring you to this point” he pointedly glanced at the gun still turned his way, even though loosely, before meeting Lance’s gaze once more.

Slowly the riffle lowered to its owner’s side. Blue eyes remained fixed on Shiro with an unreadable look.

“There’s no way you’re Shiro“

Before Shiro knew what was happening, the bayard had returned and the echo of it shooting bounced on the walls as his view turned to a blur of purple and blue. Keith’s blade had stroked Lance’s riffle in time to avert it from its target but the shooter seemed pretty determined to try again.

“Lance, are you out of your mind?!” Keith barked, as he wrestled with the Cuban boy, who growled at him in return, while he struggled to free his arms from Keith’s grip.

“Me?! Wake up, Keith! Don’t you see what he’s doing!?” Lance fumed before Keith flipped and tossed him across the room. Lance was back on his feet in an instant, his bayard charged and ready to be used once more, but this time Keith wasn’t taking any chances and left no opening toward Shiro. He stood protectively, with his Marmora sword in its full form at hand.

Lance made a step forward challengingly but was halted by Pidge and Hunk, both of whom had taken hold of each of his arms.

“Stop it” Pidge warned under their breath, digging their nails on his armor. Then Allura came to stand in front of him and his bayard went into its dormant mode instantly.

“Lance, do you realize what you just did?”

Hunk felt Lance shrinking under her glare, but at least he wasn’t lashing out to shoot anyone.

“Allura” Lance muttered pleadingly “Please, listen. This-“

“Whatever point you could have had, was lost the moment you fired at your teammate” she stated, her fists clenching on her side.

Keith stormed next to her, shooting down daggers with his eyes “What the hell were you thinking?”

Lance opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted as their black paladin stepped in to sooth Allura and Keith “Guys, please. Calm down, let’s not gang up on him”

Pidge’s grip on Lance tightened even more, as they felt him tense, the fire returning in his eyes when Shiro stepped closer and saw Hunk half hugging him to keep him in place.

They weren’t the only one to notice.

Keith growled upon detecting his hostility “I don’t know what is wrong with you. But clearly you are not to be trusted near Shiro right now” he snarled and turned to the princess “Allura. With an alliance with Lotor I don’t believe the Blade has any urgent need for me, so if you don’t mind I’ll be returning to my position as the Red Paladin. And if I’m not mistaken” his eyes returned to Lance, who hadn’t appeared willing to put any fight against Hunk and Pidge’s grip anymore, so they had cautiously released him “That’s one Paladin too many”

Pidge bit their lips “Um, that’s a little…“

“Keith, you can’t do that!” Hunk quaked desperately, while Allura averted her gaze, wrapping an arm around herself and Shiro cringed.

Lance stayed still with his shoulders slumbed, facing Keith with a lost expression. Slowly he lowered his head and held out his bayard. Keith paused a moment, but his features didn’t soften.

Finally he took the offered bayard and Lance’s hand dropped to his side.

Without a word the former Blue Paladin turned and exited the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hunk would have followed if he hadn’t seen Coran give a pleading look at Allura, who nodded at him tactfully. The Altean man bolted after Lance before the door isolated them.

“Lance, my dear boy”

“Coran” Lance spoke hoarsely “I appreciate whatever you want to tell me. But I would really like to be alone right now”

Coran looked heartbroken as he took some hesitant steps closer to him “I’m not sure that you should be…” gently he placed a hand on Lance’s back, but the younger stepped away from it like it had burnt him “Lance…”

Lance held both hands over his ears, trying to block out Blue’s wailing. It was seriously the worst time for her to reach out to him, considering she hadn’t done so ever since she took Allura as pilot. He could barely even hear Coran over her but covering his ears didn’t do much anyway. Their bond was linked straight to his brain.

_‘Be quiet!”_

Blue insisted.

_‘Shut up!!!’_

She didn’t falter.

_‘Blue, please stop…’_

It paused, then there were some soft sorrowful notes and then silence.

It felt more like a big black void.

“I’m fine” he breathed out and brushed back his hair “Is Matt still here?”

Coran’s frown deepened “I believe he is preparing for departure”

“Good” he continued making his way down the hall.

“Lance, you shouldn’t make any rushed decision. There was a lot of tension in the room, but I’m sure we can resolve it” Coran made sure to keep up with his pace.

“My beautiful man” Lance halted and met his eyes, with a pained look “Be careful”

Coran watched him sadly walk away. He didn’t follow this time.

Lance found Matt boarding some supplies while his furry friend chatted with the locals of the planet.

 “Got place in your crew?”

Matt looked at him curiously “I… guess I do?”

“Good” Lance leaped on the ramp and stepped close to him nonchalantly “Just so we’re clear. I don’t like you cause you always hit on Allura”

Matt smiled “Noted” his eyes followed Lance as he walked into his ship and dropped his bag to a side “Mind telling me what happened?”

“I’m sure Pidge will fill you in. I would just prefer being far away from here when they do” Lance put his arms behind his head and dropped into one on the floor among the cargo, using part of them as pillow.

“So I’m risking being murdered by my sibling and you’re a fugitive... I’m game” Matt tidied the last boxes and clicked for the ramp to withdraw, the door closing after it “Don’t they need you to form Voltron?”

“Not anymore”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone has a heart attack, Keith is not meant to be the bad guy.
> 
> The next chapter will probably be out when The Tipping Point’s chapter 6 is out.


	2. Reaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit is going down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been facing some trouble with the Tipping Point (also the last week has been hectic for me), as I decide how I want to proceed, so while the 6th chapter is ready, the 7th is taking forever, but I wanted to post something.
> 
> So here’s like 80% of this fic. I had had a lot of fun while writing this, lemme know what you think!

“Matt, you’re so fucking dead! I can’t believe this!” Pidge slammed their hands on their keyboard, screaming at their screen.

The older Holt sibling chuckled “Did it honestly take you so long to notice he was missing? We’ve been gone for five vagras”

“It’s been a mess here! We had to keep Hunk and Keith from killing each other! Well-“ their voice went back to normal levels “Not kill, they hadn’t really gotten physical, but they were at each other’s throats verbally” they fixed their glasses “And when we finally calmed down and decided we were getting nowhere we split ways and it’s night. We thought he might be sleeping and didn’t want to be bothered. But later Hunk went to check on him and then he was nowhere to be found, and we were about to lose it until Coran told us what happened. YOU FUCKING TRAITOR!”

“Language!” Matt gasped, placing a hand on his chest feigning feeling scandalized.

“Oh, don’t give me any of this shit! Where is Lance? Tell the coward to step forward, I wanna talk with him”

“Yeah, me too” Hunk echoed, leaning close so he was in the Camera’s field of vision.

“He can’t just raise hell and then walk away!” Pidge growled.

“He’s not here. He asked Olia to teach him how to use our weapons and they’re on an asteroid nearby training” Matt rested back against his seat and took a more serious expression “He didn’t tell me what happened though. He said you probably would and I’ve been burning with curiosity”

Pidge sighed and composed themselves as they begun recounting the earlier events.

“-and then Keith said ‘Lance was the one who went for shoot first and ask questions later’ and he didn’t see why he should bother asking, when Lance went ahead and tried to shoot Shiro. We talked more after that, but these are the most vital points, really” they concluded.

Matt’s expression was getting more and more thoughtful as Pidge’s narration was going on “Pidge… Did you check-“

“For transmitions around Shiro. Yes, it was the first thing I did once we scattered… I found nothing”  they sighed once more and curled against Hunk, looking tired “I hadn’t noticed anything weird about Shiro until Lance pointed it out… He does have a point, but his approach was even less smooth than his flirting”

Hunk petted their hair “It’s kinda my fault. Recently Lance asked me if I had noticed something wrong with Shiro and I said yes- because I had been thinking it for a while but didn’t bring it up, because I thought I was being paranoid. And then we didn’t address it, we just said we’ll keep an eye out. But then Keith tried to kill himself and-“

“Hunk, you’re rambling” Pidge yawned and nuzzled to his sleeve sleepily.

“Sorry” the bigger Paladin took a few deep breaths.

“Long story short” Pidge continued “If Lance is wrong, he tried to kill Shiro. If he is right, he still tried to kill Shiro, it just so happened it wasn’t the real thing. Oh and there’s also that if he is right: Our real Shiro is- God knows where… And none of us noticed, for weeks…”

“What are the chances it isn’t Shiro?” Matt didn’t like the idea either, but if he had to be honest, Shiro had seemed pretty cold to him. He had just interpreted it as the war getting to him, but maybe there was more.

“Hm…” Pidge pondered “I’m not sure… I’ll have to look more thoroughfully into this”

“Until then” Hunk leaned close “Once Lance is back on your ship, turn around and bring him back here!”

Matt stared at them with furrowed eyebrows “I can’t bring him back if he doesn’t want to. But I’ll talk to him”

“Matt!” Pidge exclaimed.

“Pidge!”

“Hunk” Hunk mumbled and the three of them giggled “Lance won’t be forced to do anything, so he probably will stick there for a while… Just, take care of him, man”

Matt nodded “Don’t worry. Go get some rest”

“Yes, dad” Pidge groaned sarcastically and they traded some more goodnights before the call was terminated. Not long after Lance stumbled in, carrying one of their riffles and offered an absent minded wave as he dropped into one of the seats.

“You didn’t tell me you ran off because you tried to kill Shiro” Matt revolved his own chair around to be able to face him.

Lance groaned “Is that how Pidge described it?”

“No, they were pretty delicate about it. But that was the uncensored version I grasped”

“I am a great shot, mind you -you can ask Olia-. I was aiming for a shoulder or anywhere non lethal. I couldn’t be sure that wasn’t Shiro’s body after all, even if the brain isn’t currently his” he huffed “Anyway, I know it was an emotional mistake, but Keith isn’t the only one prone to them”

“You sound pretty sure that this isn’t Shiro”

“I am ninety nine percent certain. Not that it matters, no one would listen to me”

Matt frowned “I’m listening”

Lance sunk deeper into his seat “Yeah well… No one from my team listened”

Matt clicked his tongue “Come on, elaborate. Shiro is my friend, if he’s not where we all think, then he’s somewhere and needs our help”

Lance flinched, but as he sat up he looked more determined “You’re right… Ok, here’s the thing. Shiro had placed Keith in the role of the leader in case anything happened to him, but once we got him back, he had no problem talking over Keith… Shiro! The person who is always urging us to try our best! And he was dismissing Keith’s advice too. I mean, he dismisses mine, but everyone does that, so that’s no proof” he shrugged with a guilty grin “Anyway, then there’s the fact that the Black Lion rejected him, until we were all in danger, which was very odd. Shiro had worked hard to bond with his lion and while he had mentioned that Black is the least personal from what he heard from the rest of us, she was still loyal to him. Enough to zap Zarkon away! She chose him!” he sighed and brushed back his hair “I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense. And then when we met you- I mean… Shiro felt really terrible to not be able to rescue you and your father. Did he apologize to you when he met you again?”

“No” Matt tilted his head in confusion “Why would he apologize? He threw himself in the arena to save me”

Lance shrugged “Hero complex. You bet your ass Shiro has it. Anyway. On Naxzela he pretty much almost got us killed cause he thought anything BUT strategically and, fair enough, we all make mistakes but he hardly seemed apologetic about it. Then after you told us what Keith did back there, Shiro just gave him a bare minimum scolding. Like he had just been a rebellious child instead of a martyr wannabe” Lance took a deep breath and slumbed against his seat once more “Does any of that sound to you remotely like Shiro?”

Matt remained silent, but Lance could tell he was rolling the info into his head. Finally he nodded and let his chair revolve back to its original spot so he was facing the controls.

“Pidge asked me to bring you back”

“Nope”

“Ok”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The following week was very tense in the castleship.

Lance had been coincidentally always absent whenever they talked with Matt, but now and then, Matt would pass them messages from him. One or two for Coran and Pidge, most for Hunk. Pidge figured that some of these messages included encoded stuff that only their Yellow Paladin was meant to decipher. But if Hunk’s change of behavior was any hint, Lance had told him sideways to treat the rest of the team normally.

Shiro was mostly quiet and thoughtful but never mentioned anything about Lance, and continued doing his job on missions. Thankfully they hadn’t had any big ones that would require Voltron these days.

Allura was always waiting expectantly to see if any of the messages Matt passed had something for her but they never did. She tried very hard to seem unbothered by it.

Keith was feeling guilty if he had to be honest but every time the image of Lance’s gun pointed at Shiro crossed his mind he felt justified for his actions. Once he had cooled down he considered talking with Lance, but then they had found out he was gone and he crossed that off his brain.

Pidge was a little too formal with him, until Hunk started talking to Keith again and they loosened too. Once Hunk was being at the very least semi civilized with him, Keith, Pidge and Hunk would hang out in the kitchen and the lounge but Lance became a taboo subject. If someone mentioned him, the tension skyrocketed in ticks.

So they played it safe.

The worse part though was when he had entered Red for the first time after joining the Blade of Marmora.

Red had been silent.

He allowed him entrance and activated normally, but Keith could feel nothing else. He tried calling out through their bond and it felt like he was talking to the air. None of their lions had ever felt like simple machines until then. After their mission was over, Keith had tried spending more time with his Lion, staying in its cockpit for hours, even sleeping there but Red remained unresponsive.

He didn’t see any reason to bring it up to the rest of the team. After all, since Lance left, it felt like if he dared talk about a problem of his own, it would sound overly selfish.

In the second week the team was interacting pretty normally.

Red was still silent.

In the third week Lotor had sent them coordinates for a secret Galra base. He had said he didn’t know what it was about, that it could be nothing they cared about. But it appeared to be heavily guarded.

“I’m not sure we should risk checking on this” Shiro remarked thoughtfully when the coordinates projected on the map and linked to their destination.

Pidge perked up “I think it is! Whatever secret thing the Galra have, it could be vital for us”

“Yes, but Lotor sent this” Hunk groaned “When did we decide that we trust him?”

“He hasn’t led us astray till now” Keith crossed his arms and eyed the holographic map thoughtfully “I think Pidge is right”

“It is pretty far away” Coran stated, tagging at the end of his moustache “Should we wormhole closer?”

“No. The lions will be able to reach it without any trouble” Allura responded.

“You think it is worth the risk, for something we’re not certain even holds any importance to us?”

“Shiro, it could be another weapon they prepare. I would rather we discover it before too late” she walked to the control panel, keeping an eye to everything surrounding their initial destination “Besides, if they feel the need to guard it so thoroughfully, we can’t ignore it”

“I go?” Pidge offered eagerly “I have the cloaking and everything”

“No” Keith stepped forward “Corran said it’s far. If you need re-enforcements we have to be able to give them instantly. We all go”

“With the cloaking they’ll be able to check without being in danger” Shiro insisted.

“Better safe than sorry” Hunk shrugged.

Keith nodded “Let’s go” Shiro hesitated but in the end headed for his own lion.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Allura, where are you?” Shiro could see all lions but the Blue one at his side as they moved further from the castleship.

There was a long pause through the coms, until the princess’s voice was heard.

“Blue won’t let me in”

“What?” Keith snapped.

“The Blue Lion is locked. She won’t let me in” Allura repeated.

“Try ejecting yourself in space!” Pidge suggested “It worked for Keith”

Keith bit his lips and attempted poking at Red’s conscience once more.

Nothing.

“Can you communicate with her at all?” Hunk questioned.

“Yes” Allura sounded pretty flat through the coms “She is asking for Lance”

The coms went dead as her words settled. Since Lance left they had only used one or two lions at a time and now that Allura mentioned it, none of these times had it been Blue.

“Shiro” she called out “What should I do?”

“…Maybe just the four of us will be enough” Keith suggested.

“… We’ll move ahead” Shiro sighed “Call Matt. Tell him that we need Lance back. We can’t form Voltron without him”

“Understood” Allura hanged up and the rest of their flight continued in dead tension-filled silence.

A while later they were close enough for the Green Lion to rogue its way through, so Pidge took the lead. With their cloaking device, they approached the base and did a sonar scan for life forms, like they had done when they were trying to rescue Slav.

“There are a few people in here” they whispered to the rest of the team “Not enough for it to be a prison, unless they keep some kind of very important prisoners here”

“VIP?” Hunk chuckled.

“Hardy har, Hunk” Pidge rolled their eyes and glanced out of their Lion’s mouth at the floating base “Should I try sneaking in?”

“Is there any way we can bug in?” Hunk stammered “So we know what we’re going for? I don’t like the idea of just barging into a place without rhyme or reason. Like, oh hey dudes, I heard this was a secret base. I want in”

“I’ll try to hack into their systems, give me a moment”

Keith sighed watching impatiently through his screen. The base was too far to be seen from where their Lions were, so he had no idea how well hidden Pidge was. But there hadn’t been any shooting yet. That had to be a good sign.

They all jumped out of their skin when a few ticks later Shiro’s voice started yelling through their communicators.

“It’s a trap! They know you’re here!”

Pidge’s gasp was followed by their screaming and what sounded like a roar from the Green Lion. The coms went dead from their side.

“Pidge!” Keith moved fast, having Red leap for their destination. Black and Yellow followed “Shiro, how did you-“

“It’s not me! It’s- Ugh… H-He is-… It’s-“ Shiro gasped “It- it- I’m-“ it almost sounded like their connection was faulty but that wasn’t the case. Keith could hear Hunk’s ‘oh man oh man’ clearly “-In the base!”

The coms died from Shiro’s side too and Keith’s eyes widened when he saw the Black Lion shutting down completely and being left to hover motionlessly in space.

“Shiro!”

“Keith, we gotta get Pidge!”

Keith’s eyes darted desperately toward the still form of Shiro’s lion.

“Keith!”

Keith gulped and dashed toward the base, he could feel his hands shaking as he stirred and gripped tighter in an attempt to keep them steady. Finally the base came into view and it was surrounded by an entire fleet of ships, some of which were going down, wrapped in vines and some were blasted away.

“Pidge?” he called shakily through the coms and tried to connect with Green’s. Finally a transmission came through but Green’s cockpit was empty “They’re not in the lion!”

“Yeah, I know, Yellow is scanning for them! I can’t pick their signature and I am kind of overwhelmed! They are coming from all sides!”

Keith saw Yellow shoot and bite down ship after ship but Hunk was right, they were too many. He flew Red in position, back to back with Yellow and they managed an opening to approach Green.

“I picked their signature!” Hunk exclaimed joyfully “They’re under the Green Lion. Their armor is damaged”

Keith tried to locate them by zooming in. He should have figured it out, Green was crouched down on top of the base she had landed on and secured her pilot with her body once they got surrounded.

“We have to get them out of there” Keith hissed and tried to ward off as many ships as he could, to give the Green Lion some space but it appeared for every ship he knocked down, two more popped up.

The three lions had huddled together, but it was more like they were mice trapped in a corner as the fleets closed in on them and their defenses were starting to run short.

Keith and Hunk breathed again when a familiar ice-ray brought down a whole section of the armada that had them trapped.

“Lance!” Hunk grinned and Keith gasped when he saw Blue dragging Black along. He was about to ask about Shiro’s well being but as soon as the words reached his mouth, he bit down his tongue.

The Blue lion roared as it froze over another section of their predators before landing next to the others on top of the base, dropping the Black lion next to her.

“Is everyone ok?” Lance asked urgently.

“Pidge is hurt!” Hunk belted “I need to get them. I don’t know about Shiro, his lion just shut down!”

“God. Fucking. Damn it!” Keith gasped when he saw Blue’s Jaws opening with him as a target, but Red didn’t respond when he tried to move. A blink later, the door opened and Lance dashed in “Go to the Black Lion, now” he growled.

Keith couldn’t move “Lance-“

“NOW!” Lance grabbed his arm and pulled him up, shoving him to the door before claiming the pilot’s seat. Red adjusted to him automatically and rumbled softly.

Keith felt like someone had punched him in the stomach.

When he stepped out of Red’s mouth, he saw Blue had withdrawn and was back to shooting, while Hunk was just returning to Yellow with an armful of the Green Paladin. He gulped and leaped closer to Black, activating his shield until he reached it. Its door opened for him instantly and he rushed to the cockpit.

“Shir-“ Keith felt his blood go cold at the sight. There was some kind of dark liquid running down the pilot’s seat. He approached shakily only to find a form that carried hints of maybe it had been human once, but now looked more like a melting wax doll that was down to its core. The only thing still intact was the metallic arm, which had long since fallen from where it had previously been attached.

Keith stepped back, holding onto the wall as he felt his feet about to give out, barely registering the conversation happening through the communicators.

“Is Pidge alright?” Allura’s voice came from Blue’s com.

“Their suit- Th- They ran out of air!” Hunk sounded like he was sobbing and there was constant thumbing on the background.

“The air was vacuumed out? How long were they out there?” Lance screamed as Red tore down part of the base as he leapt to catch one of the bigger ships.

“I-I I don’t know! Their helmet was secured, they survived on the-… They survived on the oxygen left there until we got them” Hunk gulped and sniffed “Come on!!! –Oh thank god”

A series of chocked out coughs followed Hunk’s rejoice and the sound of Pidge desperately catching on their missing oxygen “Ow… Ow… Hunk my ribs… Ow…” they breathed out weakly.

Lance chuckled relieved “Hey, sortie. Don’t scare us like that”

“They’re flipping you off, Lance” Hunk informed through relieved sniffles.

“Good old, Pidge” Lance’s tone was wiped out of any joy when he addressed Keith “Keith, we need to get out of here, move!”

“Is Shiro alright? What happened to him?” Hunk asked softly.

Keith gripped on his hair as he curled up as far away from the pilot’s seat as he could even though he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight.

“Keith!” Lance repeated.

The Black lion hummed reassuringly, trying to calm him down but Keith couldn’t move or think. Black reached out again, patiently and the room was gone from his vision. Instead he was surrounded by the blurry image of purple walls. Clearly a Galra establishment. Opposite him stood two Galra in lab coats talking to each other and occasionally glancing up as the building quaked. Finally they nodded to each other and one of them approached. Keith followed his gaze on what appeared to be the control panel of the pod he just realized he was enclosed in.

Keith was violently shoved out of the vision when Black roared with all her might and tore down onto the base, digging nails and teeth through the building.

“Keith, what are you doing!? We have to go!” Lance’s voice had softened barely and it carried a tone of worry.

“We have to get Shiro!” Keith finally replied as he shoved the remaining wax doll lookalike off the pilot’s seat and claimed it for himself, cringing as the remnants of what used to be Shiro seeped through his clothes, but didn’t falter.

“What? Isn’t he with you?” Hunk balanced Yellow, who had been thrown away by Black’s sudden launch.

“He-… He is in the base”

“How did he get there!?” Lance wondered if Keith had hit his head.

“It’s… It was a clone. I think... It-It doesn’t matter, the real Shiro is in the base, we have to get him out” Keith shrunk as he spoke.

“… Are you fucking kidding me!?”

“Lance. He is in danger, it’s a lab!”

“Fuck me gently! Keep them off me, I’ll go get him. Stay in Black, Keith. She is the only one who hasn’t sustained damage yet” once more Lance’s form appeared as he slipped out of the Red lion and he jumped through the hole Black had dug into the base “Any idea where?”

Pidge groaned “There was- I saw life signatures in the second level, mostly on the left”

“There are two scientists with him” Keith offered.

“Right then! There were three far off right”

“Roger that” Keith heard Lance’s bayard activate. He maneuvered Black around, who gave a slight protest but he reassured her they were getting Shiro out. At least, he told her that, since the info hadn’t yet processed all the way through his brain. He had to glance at the fallen replica of Shiro’s prosthetic to remind himself what was happening.

“I’m going to my lion” Pidge announced.

“How the hell are you gonna do that?! Your suit is damaged!”

“My helmet can keep enough air for me to reach Green, Hunk. As soon as Lance is back, we’re forming Voltron and we’re bolting out of here. I’m up to here!” Keith assumed they accompanied the declaration with an appropriate gesture “Don’t push me! I am suffocating!”

“That’s not funny” Keith mumbled.

“I didn’t ask your opinion Mister Shiro-is-definitely-not-a-clone!”

Keith flinched and watched as Pidge’s small body flew out of Yellow. Green was there instantly to catch them.

From Lance’s side came shooting and grunts “The scientists are down”

“Did you find him?”

 “Yes. Ask your stupid lion if I found the right one” Keith heard glass breaking and what was probably some kind of liquid pouring out.

Black hummed in affirmation “Yes, it’s Shiro”

“Nice! Now tell her to go fuck herself”

Keith could have sworn he felt Black vibrate with amusement.

“Lance, you can’t bring Shiro out in the open without a helmet, your human bodies are not built to sustain empty space”

Lance growled, sounding out of breath, which made sense if he was carrying Shiro “Oh really princess? Can’t I? Are you sure? Like, how sure are you? I say we test it, I mean, I do it every weekend. I dance in empty space because I’m dumb like that. I had no idea I could die from it”

“Lance, not the time buddy” Hunk whined.

“Is Shiro-“

“I’m not a doctor, Keith! He is breathing fine, he is unconscious. I have no idea what they have been doing to him. You can check it once we don’t have a hundred ships shooting at us! …Red”

The Red Lion span and landed close, burring his head into the base.

“Ok. Buffy damsel rescued. All in place?”

“Ye” Pidge sounded pretty beat too “Let’s get out of here”

All lions flew off and hurried into formation but they weren’t coming together.

“Lance!” Pidge exclaimed. They sounded about to explode for real.

“That wasn’t me... Allura?”

“No… I’m holding up” she didn’t sound too sure but Lance decided to trust her word.

“Keith?” he demanded.

“I-I…” the pilot of the Black Lion sounded like he could hardly breath, heaving over his panel “I’m sorry… I’m sorry. Lance, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Keith sobbed shakily.

“Now is not the time!” Lance growled. He paused and tried to calm himself, while listening to Keith having a full blown panic attack at the other end “Keith. Calm down. This is important, we’re gonna die”

It didn’t sound like Keith could even talk anymore.

“Keith… Take deep breaths. Focus. We have to get out of here, like- Yesterday”

Keith whimpered “I’m sorry…”

“…Ok. Apology accepted… What do you say you get us out of here now?”

Lance saw Black move to its place to lead the formation and they tried again, this time getting Voltron right and before long they were flying away from the ship cemetery they had created.

The lions separated as soon as they had gained a safe distance from the danger zone and none of them complained. Their pent up emotions and Keith’s turmoil had been banging through their connection while merged into an unpleasant mix.

The Cuban boy allowed Red to auto pilot them back to the castle and walked up to Shiro who hadn’t roused at all since he broke him out of the lab. With his limited knowledge he did a quick vital check and everything seemed to be working normally.

Lance had the sense that he should be feeling justified for being proven right, but he just felt empty. On one hand he had been ostracized unfairly and on the other, their friend had been trapped in that lab for months. Was he unconscious all this time? Did he know he was trapped? Again. Being used by the Galra? Again. Was he waiting for them? Why hadn’t they noticed sooner?

Everything felt wrong. He wasn’t sure if he was more angry or guilty and the relief from rescuing Shiro had yet to settle in, since everything happened so quickly, he didn’t have the time to process.

With a sigh Lance sat next to Shiro, close enough to monitor his breathing and curled to himself, laying his forehead on his knees.

They had failed him.

This wasn’t the time to be angry or petty. Yes, Keith had turned and bit him, even though Lance had trusted him to be his leader. Yes, Allura hadn’t stood up to him, even though he constantly stood up for her. Yes Pidge hadn’t taken his warning more seriously, even though Lance did his best to understand their points when they spoke.

But he had acted unreasonably too and maybe hadn’t given enough ground to prove his judgment could be trusted. And in the end what did it matter? They got Shiro back just by chance and Lance could bet their leader didn’t need to have in his mind his paladin’s bickering.

He would have to get things together if he had to stay.

Blue hadn’t opened for Allura and only allowed her in when he stepped in first. When he left to go to Red during the battle he had to assure Blue that it was only due to an emergency that she had to let Allura pilot her. Blue had begrudgingly agreed.

To Lance that was her way of saying ‘if they won’t have you, I’ll force them to’

He wasn’t sure he appreciated it, since he hated feeling like a burden, but he would also be lying if he said her protectiveness didn’t make him feel somewhat special. A thousands old sentient war machine found him worth to fight for and maybe even irreplaceable. He had to be doing something right.

A soft moan drew his attention to the source of all of his most recent problems and he beamed as he leaned closer, so Shiro’s dazed, half lidded eyes could see him.

“Salutations from Earth” he chuckled.

Shiro blinked a few times, dizzily, trying to clean his eyes “…Lance?”

“The one and only, baby” he scooted closer chuckling “Welcome back to the land of the living, how are you feeling?”

Shiro’s chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath. His eyes fell closed for a few ticks and then opened again, as he tried to take a look of his surroundings. He repeated the action a few times, while Lance watched him curiously.

“Where am I?” he requested after the fifth time.

“In Red- The Red Lion. We’re going back to the castleship. Our Alien friends will have you back to your feet before you know it” the older stared at him and then repeated the previous action two more times.

“I can’t tell… If I’m here…” it looked like every word was taking a toll out of him.

Lance wasn’t sure what he meant “Come again?”

Shiro let his head roll to the side and clenched and unclenched his hand, watching it happen. He groaned and let his head roll on its back once more, closing his eyes “I can’t tell…”

“Shiro?” Lance frowned and placed a hand on Shiro’s arm, trying to draw his attention. At the contact Shiro’s eyes fluttered open and tried to focus on him “What can’t you tell?”

Shiro’s fingers twitched, seemingly reaching blindly for something. Lance moved his hand to them and the fingers closed around it weakly. Shiro did the blinking routine once more.

“The lab” he murmured.

“What about it?”

“I’m in the lab”

Lance felt his gut twist and his hand closed tighter around Shiro’s “No, you’re not. We got you out. Hey” his free hand brushed Shiro’s white tuff back, getting his attention “You’re not in the lab... Black is very close, you should be able to hear her if you reach out”

Shiro paused for a moment and then Lance felt him fully relax with a deep relieved sigh. He smiled sympathetically “Found her?”

Shiro gave a firm nod with a shuddering exhale.

“Good. Get some rest big guy, you’re safe. We’ll be home soon” a few ticks later, Shiro’s fingers slipped out of his hand and Lance returned to the pilot’s chair. Soon enough the castleship came in sight and the Cuban boy braced himself as he mentally prepared to face his team once again.

He would have to put aside any bad blood.

They saved Shiro.

That was all that mattered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: Alternative title- The part where the author projects their justification on the clone theory and apologizes for it.
> 
> The next chapter will have a few more interactions, but it’ll take a while for me to write and will surely be posted after I have updated Tipping Point


	3. Inaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goodbyes and welcomes as the team gets into their places.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the closing for this one. I hope you enjoy, thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Can you say not proof read? Because I sure as hell can… I’ll do it tomorrow, and do some more corrections so be warned for what follows, it is almost 6 in the morning and I am sleepy.
> 
> ALSO: I accidentally deleted the series page and had to make a new one. Sorry to the people who were subscribed to it ;//;

When the Holt siblings were small, their mother had once read them the Little Prince as a bedtime story. The idea of a tiny planet on which you could walk around had seemed absurd to Matt even when he was barely eight years old. As he stood upon a planet that fit the description now, he had to admit, it didn’t feel any less ridiculous.

It wasn’t as microscopic as the one in the fairytale, since it was big enough to hold the castleship, Matt’s cargo ship and the Lions that landed on it, with none of those fading in the horizon –even if they stood on an obvious curve-. And they had of course come across dwarf planets before, but this absurd little discovery had its own human friendly atmosphere, three moons in the size of basket balls and colors too vibrant for something that wasn’t a rave club. Matt’s eyes had started burning in the ten dobashes he stood outside, waiting for the Voltron Paladins to return.

When Allura had called in to ask for Lance, the later had had to borrow one of their ships and leave. Matt had volunteered his own, to get back to the castleship, while he had stayed behind to help with the mission they had been on the middle of. When they were done, Olia dropped him off at the castleship where he and Coran had proceeded into steaming in their own worry until Pidge eventually contacted them that they were mostly alright and returning.

Coran lingered on the word ‘mostly’ and rushed to prepare the infirmary and cryopods as a precaution. Matt had stayed a little longer in the call with Pidge, before he went out to wait.

When the lions finally descended Allura was the first one to leave hers. Before it had even touched the ground she leapt off and ran to the Red one. Matt, sensing he might be needed, followed her.

Lance, who had been in the middle of carrying an unconscious Shiro out, looked very relieved when Matt and Allura took him from his hands.

“Thanks, guys” Lance rolled his shoulders wincing “I love Shiro and all but he isn’t exactly a ‘light sleeper’” he smirked at Matt, who almost dropped Shiro in his attempt to face palm at the horrible pun. Allura just looked confused but decided not to comment and instead carried Shiro to the castle with Matt’s assistance (even if she insisted she could carry him on her own without a problem).

Lance saw Pidge and Hunk run their way, but while Pidge made a short stop to check on Shiro, Hunk completely overlooked them and ran straight to his best friend, lifting him off the ground with a crushing embrace.

“Hunk, I need air” Lance chocked out as he attempted to return the hug, but it proved difficult with the way his arms were pinned to his sides the way Hunk had wrapped him.

The bigger teen softened a little his grip but didn’t release him “Sorry, buddy, I’m just very happy to see you” he pulled back just enough to face him, with a somber expression “It wasn’t the same without you. I missed you.”

“I missed you too, pal” Lance smiled gratefully, hugging back when he got the chance, practically melting at the familiar affection. Matt had turned out to be a good guy, but three weeks hadn’t been enough to get them to the snuggle stage of friendship and Lance had seriously missed some physical contact.

Pidge cleared their throat as they approached the two. When Lance’s eyes met theirs, they frowned and straightened their glasses, standing awkwardly “Um… I wanna yell at you for leaving like that… But mostly I want to apologize for not standing up for you. We honestly didn’t deserve your help when we asked, but I’m really glad you’re back”

Lance grinned “Aww, you little gremlin, don’t worry about-“ he gasped as he found himself once more enveloped by one of his friends, as Pidge’s arms locked around his waist and they buried their face on his shirt. The older smiled fondly and petted their hair “Don’t feel bad, it wasn’t your job to stand up for me. I’m glad you’re ok, you gave us a real scare back there”

“You’re back, right? You’re not going to leave again” Pidge mumbled.

Lance glanced at Red. When he had stepped off, the Red lion saw him off like a polite host. Just like their relationship had been for the time Lance piloted him. Red treated Lance like a welcome guest, which he liked but wouldn’t become too familiar with. They didn’t tolerate each other, they got along pretty well, but it was more the kind of hanging out that happened with a friend’s friend. Although in this fight, Red had been more open than usual and Lance knew it was his way of apologizing for Keith’s behavior. Even if there wasn’t a reason to.

This time when he had left the Red lion, it had felt pretty final.

His eyes moved from Red to Blue.

Blue responded almost immediately with a subtle hum at the back of his brain and overflowing warm affection. It was the proper welcome that she hadn’t had the chance to give him, in the heat of the battle and with Allura by his side. Now she was being crystal clear and Lance knew that she had meant it when she rejected Allura.

She would not accept another paladin.

“I’m not going anywhere, you little monster” Lance squeezed them in a hug that Hunk joined, huddling them all together.

None of them seemed too eager to break apart, and Lance would have preferred to stay like this for hours. But he knew they had to move. They would have more chances for snuggles later “Guys, we need to go check how Shiro is doing… Pidge should get checked too” he huffed, without moving from his spot.

Pidge moaned disappointedly but did let go, forcing Hunk to move as well and the three of them headed to the castle ship.

 “Did Shiro wake up at all on our way?” the green Paladin asked with a pout.

“For a very short while. But he was still pretty out of it” Lance looked troubled at the memory of the state Shiro had been in.

“I can only imagine” Hunk brushed back his hair, eyes widening “Holy cow, I still can’t believe this. Shiro was a clone? It is only downing on me, what in the world happened in there? In the base I mean”

The Cuban boy cringed “I’ll tell you once we’re with the rest. I don’t feel like repeating myself ten times”

“Speaking of the rest, did anyone see Keith exit the Black Lion?” Pidge questioned and all three of them halted and looked back at the long hallway from the entrance gates, they had crossed.

“Didn’t he go ahead?” Lance asked raising an eyebrow. It seemed unlikely. Shiro’s well being was at stake, Keith must have moved along as soon as they landed. Yet apparently none of them saw any signs of him, as Hunk confirmed. After a brief exchange they decided that he had probably escaped their radar. 

In the infirmary, Coran and Allura were leaned over Shiro, who had been laid on a stretcher, running one test after the other. Upon closer inspection, Shiro’s eyes were half lidded, but he remained unresponsive while the two Alteans asked him questions. Matt stood pretty close as well, clearly anxious but made sure to stay out of their way. Keith wasn’t in the room.

Pidge rushed to their brother’s side and they instantly got lost into each other. Hunk’s eyebrows furrowed as he side glanced at Lance “Uh… I should go check on Keith” he spoke uncertainly, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder. When his friend didn’t reply he turned to do just that, walking down the hall from the infirmary. But Lance caught up with him soon and grabbed his shoulder softly.

 “I’m on it”

 “But-“

“Hunk” Lance gave him a determined smile “It’s fine. I got this” he tried to step around the Yellow Paladin, but the other cut his way.

“Lance. I know that during the battle you accepted Keith’s apology, but you aren’t obligated to forgive him right away. Or ever. I mean, if you don’t feel like it that is” the Samoan continued rambling, his hands fidgeting with each other “Which you probably won’t, because it’s you, and you give lots of leeway to your friends. But what he did-“

“Yes I am” Lance sighed “I am obligated. There are important things at stake, here. If I am to stay-… You and I are the legs of Voltron, my stud muffin” he grinned and gave a gentle punch on Hunk’s arm “We gotta hold the team up and we can’t do that with silly grudges”

“It’s not that simple, Lance” Hunk squeezed Lance’s shoulder “None of us would blame you if you weren’t ready to forgive Keith”

“I would blame me” Lance glared at his feet “If I hadn’t ran away we might had rescued Shiro weeks ago. I fucked up as much as Keith, I have no right to be mad at him”

“You couldn’t have known” Hunk desperately tried to come through “None of us did. But Keith-”

“I did. I made a whole scene about it” Lance grit his teeth “Now I gotta pick up whatever I can… And I asked you to stop blaming Keith, already”

“I am treating him well and have almost forgiven him. But accepting someone, even when they made a mistake, and just acting like they didn’t make it are two different things” Hunk emphasized his words as much as he could.

Lance gave a curt nod “Noted. I’ll go get Keith”

Hunk let out a long, dragged, sigh and let him through before returning to the infirmary.

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Black Lion was right where he had last seen it. Sitting still on top of the neon blue grass, towering over him. Their lions tended to return to their casual perked position when they left them alone, so Lance had no way of knowing if Black was occupied or not.

“So… Any chance you’ll let me in?” he didn’t really expect a response “Is Keith in there?” and as it appeared, he wasn’t going to get any.

Lance rolled his eyes “I’m sorry I told you to fuck off… Well, sort of sorry. I still consider it a dick move that you didn’t let us know Shiro was a fake” he crossed his arms and started tapping his foot impatiently “And for letting him get zapped into space in the first place that was kind of assholy of you. Also not just picking him over Zarkon without giving him a hard time... But I guess I can’t expect better judgment from a hundreds year old machine, can I? It is not like it is any of your business, you seem to be more neutral ground” the boy’s voice had lowered enough for this to be more of a series of thoughts spoken aloud, than actually addressing the unmoving Lion “I guess I just thought you and Shiro had a thing, like the rest of us. Shiro had worked hard to bond with you… Guess not. It’s ok, nobody is perfect and I suppose you were fond of your first Paladin, even if he turned out to be a dick. Can’t just ask you to forget your bond”

Lance’s shoulders slumbed as he groaned and rubbed his eyes “What the hell am I doing… I guess I’m tired. I suppose you don’t know where Keith is, or just don’t feel like sharing” he shrugged “That’s fine. Totally understandable, I’ll just check elsewhere”.

Before the Blue Paladin had the chance to take two steps, he yelped as the biggest of their lions moved, shaking the whole tiny planet as she lowered her head and allowed him entrance.

“You’re-“ the Cuban boy approached warily after the startle passed“-Not going to eat me, are you?”. Naturally, there was no reply, so he jumped in and made his way to the cockpit.

Blue eyes scanned the area, freezing upon noticing a half dried, dark colored liquid decorating the floor. The lighting in the room was pretty poor, making the color undistinguishable. But it looked like blood.

Lance’s stomach twisted and in the next second he was leaning over the pilot’s seat, where he found Keith curled up in a tight ball “Keith, are you alright?” he crouched close, inspecting him frantically “Are you hurt?”

“No” the voice was tiny and seemed to be forced out “I’m ok”

“But, the blood-“

“It’s not blood” portion of Keith’s face made an appearance from behind his arms, to glance at the mess “I-I think… It’s what’s left of the- Him. That thing… Not Shiro”

Lance did notice now, that he had made sure Keith was intact, that there was in fact some questionable additions in the cockpit. Specifically a prosthetic similar to Shiro’s and a mass that appeared to still be melting.

“Did you kill it?” Lance’s frown deepened when Keith shook his head. If he hadn’t killed the clone, then he found it like that. Possibly while he still didn’t know this wasn’t Shiro. It must have been horrible “Hey, come on, we got the real thing now. Why aren’t you by his side?”

“He is being taken care of” he murmured, curling in on himself once more “And it’s not like I was there when he needed me…”

Lance couldn’t really bring a counter point to that and he already knew that the rest of the team wouldn’t either. They weren’t going to forget their mistake any time soon.

“You can be there for him now” he whispered instead.

“Lance”

Lance braced himself as two teary eyes rose to meet his.

“Why are you here? Why are you trying to comfort me?” Keith’s questions sounded more like pleas. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He gulped as another wave of tears flowed down “You must ha- I-I’m sorry… You were right, I’m an idiot. I should have listened to you” he sobbed, hiding his face in his arms once more.

“Keith” Lance stared miserably “I am not mad, I already accepted your apology” he walked beside him, crouching to his level before risking a physical approach. Keith froze under his hand when he rested it on his shoulder but relaxed pretty fast when Lance’s thumb stated rubbing soothing circles.

“How can you not be?” Keith surfaced once more, looking at him fearfully “After what I did? What I- what I said?”

The Blue Paladin mentally cursed himself, because against his better judgment, his body stiffened and his expression became colder for just a tick before he schooled them both back to sympathy. He was fully aware that it didn’t escape Keith’s notice, because the other boy stiffened under his passing glare.

“I said I forgive you. It was my fault as much as it was yours” Lance insisted. The doubt in Keith’s eyes was obvious as they followed him when he rose up “So Drop it. If you feel bad, the least you can do is make this mess worth it. We got Shiro and he needs you. So get up”

“Lance, I-I can’t. I can’t, they-“ he hugged his knees tighter, curling up once more with a haunted look “You- I-I have no place. I messed up. You should-“

“Keith, we all did. Now we have to fix it”

“No. You don’t understand. After I came back, Red wouldn’t respond to me. He doesn’t want me as his paladin anymore. Black just-“

Lance did hear the lion they were currently standing in rumble, but since he had zero connection with her, he couldn’t interpret the emotion behind it. From the looks of it Keith could, cause his expression crumbled. Now he looked just sad instead of horrified **and** sad.

“What does she say?” he asked after allowing Keith a moment to relax.

“She doesn’t say words, you know that… But, it feels- I’m not sure I can explain it” whatever it was, it seemed to have pretty positive effect on him,

Maybe Lance had been a little too harsh on the Black Lion.

“You were piloting Red just fine” he pointed out.

“He allowed me to pilot him, but… There was no presence from him at all… At least not until you stepped in today” he sighed and slumbed, allowing his feet to uncurl “Lance. I am the one paladin too many. Not you. It was never you… I should have stayed with the Blade. Or just-…” he trailed off, and the fury that Lance had avoided a while ago, skyrocketed the second he caught the part of this sentence that remained unspoken.

Keith gasped as his collar was yanked by the taller teen, pulling him close and bringing their faces to inches distance “DO YOU WANT ME TO PUNCH YOU AGAIN?!” Lance’s voice thundered against the metallic walls.

A small whimper escaped Keith as he was reminded that he didn’t enjoy a genuinely pissed Lance “I-I just- I meant-“

“I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEANT!” Lance stepped back, dragging Keith off his seat, where he stumbled before balancing on his feet “I said I forgive you, Keith. But that was about what you said to **Me**. Just because you kicked me out, doesn’t mean I forgot your suicide stunt and I never said I forgave that”

Keith bit the inside of his lip, shrinking once more under Lance’s glare.

Under other circumstances, Keith might had tried to defend his choices and stand up against him, but right now he appeared willing to take anything if it meant he would be forgiven.

Lance didn’t wish to take advantage of this vulnerability, but he honestly wanted to put some things together, so they could move on to the next. So he dragged Keith by the arm, knowing the other wouldn’t put up any fight.

Keith eventually resisted weakly when they reached the exit of the Black Lion. Lance saw him gulp and glance around anxiously before very unwillingly stepping off with him. As soon as they were clear, the Lion rose to its sitting position, and while he couldn’t feel it, Lance saw the exact moment Keith’s connection with it broken. Keith’s shoulders slumbed and he suddenly looked smaller and lost.

He wondered if that has been how Lance had felt when he had cast him out of the team. The feeling of having the place you felt that you belong abandon you. Keith had tried to avoid this experience, by leaving the team on his own accord and by keeping in his mind that his choice had been so Lance could stay, when he had joined The Blade.

This time it wasn’t up to him.

“Come on, you idiot” he looked up to find two blue eyes, staring at him with a pitiful smile. He glanced once more at the looming form of the Black Lion before following. But instead of the castle, Lance lead him to the Red Lion. When they were close enough, Lance gave him a gentle shove its way “I’ll wait inside. Don’t take long” he spoke, as if that cleared everything up and walked away.

Keith stood in confusion, watching Lance until he disappeared inside the castle-ship’s gates.

The Red Lion was lowered, ready to accept an entrance, but that didn’t mean anything. Keith stepped close, throwing another glance at the castle over his shoulder. Finally he shut his eyes before very slowly laying a hand on the lion’s jaw, bracing himself to be met by nothing.

And he was. Red remained silent and Keith swallowed back any tears that threatened to fall.

But it hurt.

With a sigh he dropped his forehead onto the metal, trying to build the courage to finally say goodbye.

Then it started faintly. A sound that Keith knew he was familiar with. He sat at the company of this sound in his little hut in the middle of the dessert almost every night. It had kept him warm. That sound was also there the times he and Shiro would stray away from the Garrison, and sit to tell stories and stargaze. It was there long before that also, somewhere secluded but not lonely when he was a child.

It meant warmth and safety. It meant light and guidance through the dark.

Keith briefly wondered where this source of comfort originated, until he realized he already knew.

_‘Red?’_

He felt his lion vibrate softly as it purred, enveloping him fully in its affection, in the warmest welcome Keith could have asked for. A relieved chuckle escaped him and he wiped his eyes.

At some close point in the future, Keith would ask why Red had ignored him, and Red would communicate as best as he could that he had been upset with him, both for leaving and losing sight of things. Keith would apologize but Red’s acceptance would make it clear he didn’t have to.

For now he simply allowed himself a moment to sink in the soothing cackling of the fire Red had provided for him.

There were a lot of things for him to be uncertain, but for now he could be sure that Red was a place where he belonged.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lance had taken into doing some upside down leg exercises until Keith decided to appear. From the looks of it, their Red Paladin seemed much better than he had a while ago.

The Blue Paladin gave a self satisfied smirk “All good?”

Keith just stared at him for a few ticks, before rolling his eyes. It had been a while that they had hanged out together, but he hadn’t forgotten that Lance liked to do his aerobics at random times “Yes”

The younger allowed himself to roll over and upon landing on his feet, brought himself up “Good, let’s go before the others think I murdered you”

“Lance” Keith stepped close and gave him a sincere look “Thank you”

Lance chuckled and shrugged it off “No problem”

Keith caught his arm before he had the chance to move and made sure he had his attention “I mean it… I didn’t deserve this. Thank you” he stared intensively, to make sure Lance realized how serious he was.

Blue eyes watched him curiously, before a small but real smile formed in the tan features “I didn’t do anything, but you are welcome, mullet”

Keith mirrored his smile when Lance ruffled his hair and eventually they headed to the infirmary.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Oh, thank goodness” Allura breathed out when the door opened and their Blue and Red paladins showed up “I was wondering if you were alright”

“We appear to be facing some issue, which may require your help” Coran, who was currently dripping with a bright yellow liquid, piped in.

The two Paladins gaped upon the sight of the positively thrashed room.

Shiro’s stretcher was flipped, which had resulted to every remedy, medicine and device that was within its reach to scatter around. Most of which hadn’t survived the fall. Judging from a beaker that had rolled to a corner, that was responsible for Coran’s current state.

All mice had found sanctuary in Allura’s hair, yet, regardless all that, both Alteans seemed relatively calm and collected. Which was something to behold, if you took into consideration that Allura was currently holding on the ground, with minimum effort, a thrashing Shiro.

Matt and Pidge on the contrary both looked distressed as each of them had taken one of Shiro’s sides and appeared to be shushing him. Shiro on his part, while more active than before, was still clearly dazed and Lance was willing to bet that he didn’t realize he was in a friendly environment.

 “What is happening?” Lance demanded, approaching cautiously. He kept an eye on Keith in case he tried to launch to Allura (he didn’t, but he was clearly thinking about it).

“We finished the examinations and took care of most danger. The rest was to be dealt by the healing pod” Coran spoke as he twirled his moustache “But-“

“As soon as they tried to get him to a pod he lashed out” Matt finished his sentence, nodding to Keith to approach. Keith didn’t have to be told twice.

“Where is Hunk?” Lance frowned.

“I have sent him to retrieve a new sedative” Allura grit her teeth as at her words, Shiro’s attempts to escape her grip became more intense.

“You’re gonna knock him out?” Lance joined in the others, kneeling beside Pidge, who kept petting Shiro’s hair in an attempt to sooth him “Is that necessary? I mean, if you can hold him, surely you can toss him in?”

“She already tried that” Pidge moaned and pointed at a smashed pod “It didn’t even have the time to close”

Lance bit the inside of his cheek and watched their leader with a frown. Shiro’s eyes were completely unfocused and his struggle seemed to take a lot out of him. Shiro had no idea who was around him, and if he did, he probably didn’t realize he was really here and not in the lab.

Keith had taken his turn into talking to Shiro and his voice seemed to have a positive effect. Shiro ceased fighting while he spoke.

But as soon as Hunk arrived with the sedative and Coran approached with the injection, Shiro started thrashing with all his might once more, which required Matt and Hunk’s assistance for Allura to keep Shiro in place. Shiro heaved, sweating in his attempts to get away. They all saw a weak flash from his mechanical arm, but it appeared he was incapable of controlling it at the moment.

At Coran’s second attempt, Shiro practically threw Allura off, but she managed to keep hold of arms behind his back. She seemed displeased and quite upset with the situation. So did the mice that decided Pidge, who had moved further, was safer hiding place for now.

“Ok, ok, wait. Just- Just a tick” Lance spoke up. His heart broke when Shiro whined and made a last, exhausted attempt to release himself “Keith, since he listens to you, try to tell him to connect with Black. It might help, it did before”

Keith nodded, looking more than eager to try anything to ease some of Shiro’s pain.

They all held their breaths as the Red Paladin whispered at the Black one, petting his hair in the process. A few ticks later, Shiro’s whole body slumbed as he finally relaxed. His eyes traveled dizzily from one person to the next and Lance smiled softly when he saw recognition in them.

Matt and Allura hoisted Shiro once more, but this time he was able to hold some of his own weight. The whole team walked close, passing reassurances when Shiro appeared reluctant to enter the pod.

Once he was finally in and the pod put him to sleep, every person in the room simulated released a breath and collapsed, scattering in various spots across the floor.

Except for Coran, who observed them and as usual made sure everyone was comfortable when it became clear, none of them intended to leave their spots for the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So…” Hunk spoke, while imitating a starfish “What the hell happened today?”

“I would have claimed that Lotor lead us into an ambush” Allura replied, sitting back to back with Matt “But he did warn us for the strict security measures… Yet we happened to discover that our Shiro was an imposter and thankfully reclaim the original by chance… Keith?”

“I saw Shiro melt down until Black gave me a vision that showed me it wasn’t really him. It was terrible and I never want to do that again” he groaned “Actually, I wouldn’t mind not repeating anything from the last three weeks… Lance?”

 Lance moaned, not really feeling up to retelling how he had to leave Matt and Olia in the middle of a mission. Or the awkward ride with an apologetic princess, or the tension with Keith.

“Well, I got Shiro out of a pod from a lab and killed at least two people. Matt” he spoke, nuzzling to the pillow Coran had provided “You insisted I bring the princess along ‘just in case’ is there something you want to share with us?”

“Yeah” Matt sighed “Pidge and I had done some research. Lotor didn’t randomly send you there, it was us. And I knew you might find yourself short a Paladin, that’s why I suggested you take her along. I knew you might find Shiro”

“WHAT?” echoed almost every voice in the medical bay.

Pidge roused their head, tiredly, from where they had laid it, on Keith’s belly “Oh, ah. Well, after Lance left, I tried to” they yawned “I tried to detect if there was any transmission going on around that other Shiro… It took a while but eventually I found it. And it lead to that place” they flopped back on Keith, not realizing that said paladin was staring at them like they had grown a tail.

“Well, sort of that place. It was more like the area. We narrowed it down with Lotor’s help”

What followed was a messy exchange of insults and accusations with the Holt siblings as targets, but neither of them appeared invested. Pidge was deep asleep, even with Keith yelling over their ear, and while Allura lectured Matt, he seemed too absorbed into staring at her adoringly.

Eventually the arguments died down and they all drifted to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Coran found each of them at various points through the night, individually, wandering close to the cryopod.

 The first one had been of course Keith, followed closely by Pidge as the two of them huddled close to it the pod to continue their sleep.

Hunk offered to get Coran something to eat or drink when he did his round.

Allura gazed at Shiro’s sleeping form for a while with a cheerless expression and muttered an apology.

Matt sat with a smile, pondering on the old times while they prepared for the Kerberos mission.

Lance was the last one, as the morning hours found him opposite the pod, facing it without a sound.

 Shiro’s expression was calm. He was safe.

Lance felt content with it.

_'Welcome back'_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering, Hunk, Coran and Lance were the ones to clean up the Black Lion, while Pidge collected samples from it.
> 
> PS:I bet when I wake up tomorrow I'll be really embarrassed that I didn't proofread... I'll to it I promise.
> 
> Edit: Did the check, still not satisfied.


End file.
